


A Fathers Advice

by VerityGrahams



Series: Ballycastle Bats - QLFC - Season 6 - Chaser 3 [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Breaking Up & Making Up, Depressed Ron Weasley, Drunkenness, Father-Son Relationship, Other, POV Ron Weasley, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, References to Depression, Relationship Advice, Ron Weasley-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 22:40:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20454707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerityGrahams/pseuds/VerityGrahams
Summary: Ron and Hermione have a fight, and Ron needs some fatherly advice to make it right





	A Fathers Advice

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I do not own Harry Potter
> 
> Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Ballycastle Bats - Chaser 3
> 
> Prompt: Write about Ron's relationship with one of his parents.
> 
> Optional Prompts:
> 
> 3\. [Quote] - 'If you carry joy in your heart you can heal any moment.' - Carlos Santana
> 
> 4\. [Dialogue] - "Is that the amulet he/she gave you?"
> 
> 6\. [Dialogue] - "You have a kind of aroma about you."
> 
> Wordcount: 1408/3000

A Father's Advice

Ron arrived outside of the burrow, he was pulling his trunk behind him. The look on his face said it all. He didn't say anything, there was no clue as to why their suddenly child-free home now had their youngest son taking up residence again. Molly and Arthur watched helplessly as he carted the massive trunk upstairs, Ron didn't say a thing. At first, Molly and Arthur figured he was just being stubborn, and surely Hermione would come and take him back home. But days went by - Hermione didn't show, and Ron didn't move from his alarmingly orange room.

"I'm going to speak to him!" Molly declared after a week had finally passed.

"Moll, it's none of our business. I think we should just be glad he knows he's welcome here. I'm sure whatever it is - it will pass. He'll be back with Hermione before we know it," Arthur suggested. The problem is that he didn't look quite as though he believed it.

"Arthur, Hermione has not shown up! She hasn't come for him! I don't know what she did!" Molly ranted.

"You realise it's far more likely to be Ron that's done something wrong, right?" Arthur eyed his wife with a slight smile.

"Well, you remember the articles Rita Skeeter wrote about how she was towards poor Harry…"

"Molly, that was in their fourth year of Hogwarts, and it was a load of rubbish!" Arthur laughed.

"Nonsense, my Ron loves Hermione, and he would do nothing to hurt her!"

She sounded just like she did whenever there was a question about any of her son's spouses, protective and blinded by her motherly adoration of her children. It was easy for Molly to see their faults when they were reckless and misbehaving at school, however, when a girl was involved she assumed her precious boys could do no wrong. Molly didn't go up unarmed, with her she had a tray of delicious baked goods and all of them Ron's favourites. She knocked on his door gently.

"Ronny?" she called from the other side of his closed bedroom door. "Sweetie, I'm coming in."

And with that Molly swung the door open. The tray immediately took flight landing right in front of Ron, who didn't even glance at the food. That in itself was not normal, and he stared vacantly out the window. There was a tumbler in one hand which was filled with amber liquid; he glanced at his mum and then turned back to the window, and then down the lot.

"Ron, sweetheart. Do you want to tell mum all about it?"

"Mum, I can't do this right now. I don't know if you noticed, but I am a pathetic excuse for a man."

Ron then flicked his wrist, and a bottle of Firewhisky refilled his tumbler.

"Is that what Hermione said to you?" Molly cried. "I will have you know that you are a fine young man! And that girl is lucky to have you! I have half a mind-"

"-Mum!" Ron interrupted her. "Shh! Okay, just shh."

"But Ronny…" Molly tried to continue

"Chin-chin," Ron said as he raised his glass, and then he knocked it back with surprising ease. "You don't know what happened, you don't know what I did. So you don't know, okay, you just don't, right?"

Ron's words were now starting to slur, and he looked at his mother with sleepy and extremely dopey looking eyes.

"You just tell your mum, and she will fix it," Molly breathed.

"You can't fix it, I'm me! Mum just leave me kay," Ron slurred.

He tried to push her out of the room. Eventually, Molly gave up and went to pick up the tray.

"Nah, nah," Ron mumbled. "I need that - man cannot live on Firewhiskey alone…"

Molly stood at the doorway watching her son hopelessly. He didn't look great, and they had already lost so much in years gone by. Hermione had made him happier since the war, and she had been so good for him.

"Ron dear," she began. "I think Hermione is lucky to have you, even if you did make a mistake. That mistake doesn't have to define your relationship. If you carry joy in your heart you can heal any moment. And I have to say, I miss seeing the joy in your heart."

With that, she left Ron to his food and Firewhiskey.

* * *

After a few more days and no further changes, Molly had to intervene. She apparated straight over to Hermione's home. When she came back, Arthur couldn't help but notice the sour mood that she was in.

"Go on then, what happened?" he finally asked.

"Well!" she began. "I think Ron is better of!"

"Very illuminating, did she say what happened?"

"No! She just said that Ron was behaving childishly, and she refused to come and make things right! She really doesn't seem all that concerned about Ron - apparently, when he grows up she is willing to hear /his/ apology!"

"Ah, I see."

"Yes. Do you know, I think that Lavender girl was so much better for Ron, she adored him."

"She also drove him up the wall, and once Ron realised there was more to a relationship than snogging in abandoned corridors he rather regretted his choice," Arthur stated calmly.

"Yes, but he needs someone that loves him, treats him like he deserves to be treated."

"You mean like a man who can take care of himself?" Arthur asked.

"OH! Don't you go sticking up for Hermione - Ron has not showered since he arrived! And I don't want to know how many bottles of Firewhiskey he has gone through… where is he even getting it?"

"I really think you should stay out of it. Ron wouldn't want to hear you talking about her like that," Arthur advised.

"And what should I do? Sit down here and ignore the situation?" she looked at Arthur disapprovingly. "Why aren't you doing anything? Go talk to him - man to man!" Molly scolded her husband, though Arthur didn't bat an eyelid.

"If you think it will help, I will see if he wants to talk… no point me talking to a brick wall now is there."

* * *

When Arthur walked into the room and saw Ron, his wife's worry was somewhat more understandable. The smell was noticeable as soon as you walked through the door. The entire room was in disarray; the trunk that Ron had hauled all the way up the stairs was open, and the clothing within seemed to have slowly spread around the room. Molly was right about the Firewhiskey, though maybe she had over exaggerated a little; there were three bottles in the room. Ron was lay on his bed reading those silly comics he had as a child, and he was wearing the same clothes he arrived in. He sat next to Ron on his old, lumpy bed a moment, and sighed.

"You, erm," Arthur paused sniffing. "You have a kind of aroma about you," Arthur said delicately. "Maybe it's time to wash?"

"Hmm."

"So, you wanna talk about what happened?" Arthur asked. "Your mother is going batty, she's been over to Hermione's and - let's just say if you don't sort this soon your potential wife and actual mother may end up at each other's throats," Arthur laughed a little.

"I told mum - 'snot Hermione's fault," he slurred.

"Maybe some coffee then?" Arthur asked.

He didn't really give Ron a chance to decline, a flick of the wrist and there was a conjured pot of steaming coffee and two mugs. He poured them in silence, maybe waiting for Ron to talk, but he was definitely at ease with the silence. He handed him a steaming mug and leant against the headboard next to Ron.

"Thanks," Ron said after a while.

"You wanna talk about it?" Arthur asked.

Ron sat quietly for a long time, quietly sipping from the chipped mug. Arthur didn't move from Ron's side, but he sat there patiently, both of them sipping the hot, bitter coffee. Arthur was patient, and Ron was impatient, so it didn't take long for him to break.

"Dad, I don't know what to do! I love her, but I don't think this relationship has a hope in hell of working!" Ron finally vented.

"If you love her, why can't it work?" he asked calmly.

"We are too different," he said glumly.

Ron then sat there fiddling with the comic book in his hand, his fingers practically demolishing it. Silence descended again, and Arthur patiently sat, waiting. He listened to Ron's erratic breathing. The coffee had done its work, he was sobering up quickly, and with that came the emotion he had been unsuccessfully suppressing.

"She's smart, I'm not. I mean she's sat there reading 'Transfiguration Weekly', and I've got Martin Bloody Miggs!"

"You still read Martin Miggs?" Arthur asked, smiling.

"Of course I bloody don't! I'm nineteen!" Ron shouted. "But you see what I mean? She's driven, she's gonna get promoted at the Ministry. I wouldn't be surprised if she became the Minister for Magic, but me, I'm already sick to the back teeth of being an Auror."

"Why is that a problem?" Arthur asked.

He somehow managed to remain soothing, calm and completely open-minded throughout.

"Hermione will get bored of me. Once she realises I really don't want to discuss the changes in Creature Laws, or what the latest Potion advances are; she'll leave."

"I'm pretty sure Hermione already knows you - you've been best friends since you were eleven. If she's surprised that you don't care about a career and magical advances, then she's not as smart as we all thought," Arthur said. "What actually happened? Hermione seems to think you're just acting like a child."

Ron sighed, the tips of his ears tinged red. Arthur knew this as a sign of Ron's embarrassment, and he began to wonder as to what exactly happened. Ron however, was not giving anything away, he remained tight lipped for some time, sipping coffee and demolishing his comics. In fact, it was the ever patient Arthur that spoke first this time.

"Come on Ron, it can't have been that bad?" he asked kindly.

"You'll laugh," Ron replied.

"If I laugh, that means it's easily fixed, and that's a good thing, right?"

Ron just shrugged, moody and stubborn as usual.

"So, you won't talk about it, so I can't help. Is it your plan to live in our attic, drinking Firewhiskey and eating copious amounts of food forever?"

Ron shrugged again.

Arthur looked around the room, trying to find anything that would entice Ron to start sharing again. Then his eyes fell on a glint of gold, and there was the horrible gaudy amulet that Lavender had bought him years ago. An idea struck him. He pointed it out.

"Is that the amulet she gave you?" he asked.

Ron looked up and frowned at his father.

"Hermione would never buy me that abomination!" he exclaimed.

"Oh yea, this was Lavender, right? Why didn't things work out with her?" he asked innocently.

"Harry said that I was whispering Hermione's name in my sleep - you know after I got poisoned by Slughorn!"

"Oh yea, he said that Hermione was upset when you didn't remember, it was hard for her when you were with Lavender you know," Arthur explained.

"Yea, well I was being a bit of an idiot back then. I had no idea that Hermione would be interested in me. She's smart, fun, she's bloody brilliant! I never thought she would want me, not when she could have Harry."

"'Cause Harry likes reading Transfiguration Weekly?" Arthur asked.

"No way, Harry would never!" Ron laughed.

"So he's really interested in the latest magical developments?"

"No,"

"He's into politics?" Arthur asked again.

"Harry hates politics!"

"So what exactly does Harry have that you don't? I mean by all accounts you're a reasonably good Auror, they want to keep you. You were there throughout most of what Harry did during the war. You both have the same work ethic?"

"Harry's just better, in 'e," Ron explained exasperatedly.

"No, he's just more enthusiastic about being an Auror from what I can see," Arthur said. "And she has never seemed that into him, but she got all tied in knots when she couldn't have you… so now I'm stuck, what changed with Hermione?"

"Nothing, Hermione's the same, brilliant as ever-"

"-Right," he interrupted. "And nothing changed with you, so what happened that led you to think the relationship was doomed and you needed to seek refuge in the bottom of a Firewhiskey bottle?"

"Our differences were highlighted while playing a Muggle board game," Ron mumbled.

"You're drinking the entire wizarding world out of Firewhiskey over a … a game?" Arthur asked.

"It's what the game represents!" Ron exclaimed.

Arthur shook his head and tried to hide the small smirk on his face.

"Explain…"

"Well, it's called trivial pursuit, and we play with her parents, it's got questions about maths, art and general knowledge, and I suck at it! Hermione and I always lose, and I feel like a bloody idiot! I mean seriously, how can she enjoy spending time with a dolt like me?"

"Does Hermione know this is over a game?" Arthur asked, finding the situation more amusing as it unravelled.

"It's not about the game, it's-"

"Yea, I know, it's what it represents! Does Hermione know why you left? Or is she under the impression that you are the world's worst loser?"

"She's smart, she'll figure it out."

"Do you want a bit of fatherly advice?" he asked.

"I have a sneaking suspicion I will get some whether I like it or not," Ron grumbled.

"Hermione is no Legilimens, she has no idea why you left. As far she is concerned you hate losing and walked out. Just go and tell her what's going on in your head, and if it doesn't work out, I'll buy you a bottle of Firewhiskey."

Ron looked up at his father, his expression questioning.

"Two bottles and you got a deal."

"Fine, but have a shower first. Most people will not be as delicate as me, instead of: 'You have a kind of aroma about you.' You're gonna get something along the lines of: 'Ron you smell worse than a Bundimun infestation."

"Hay!"

"Call it how I see it, kid."

* * *

Ron did come back, after a few days that is. He and Hermione had worked things out, but that only started once Hermione had stopped laughing at him. He was showered and wearing pants, something that his mother and father were all too happy to see. He and his dad took a seat outside, and Ron told him what had happened.

"So do you have that bottle of Firewhiskey?" Ron asked.

"No, didn't bother buying one," Arthur replied easily. "I knew you and Hermione would work it out. Your mum and I are very different too - it can be hard sometimes, but I personally think we are stronger for our differences. I think the same about you and Hermione. I worry more about Percy and Audrey, cut from the exact same cloth those two."

"I feel for the kids, they are going to have a funless existence!" Ron got up to leave. "I guess I'll see you later Dad."

"Oh just wait a moment." Arthur reached behind him for a small bag. "Your mum wanted me to give you this."

Ron took the bag and pulled out an embroidered cushion; it was maroon, and on it were the words; 'If you carry joy in your heart you can heal any moment'.

"Er - thanks..." Ron replied slightly confused.

"See, your mum thinks that her wise words helped you and Hermione patch things up," Arthur responded. "She thinks that when she said that it struck a chord with you."

"When did she say that?"

"One of the times she went up the attic and brought you food."

"She brought me food?" Ron asked.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please review


End file.
